Ian Allan
The Jets signed LaDainian Tomlinson on Sunday. I just don’t understand that one.
New York could have re-signed Thomas Jones to a two-year contract worth $5 million, according to published reports. Jones signed with Kansas City, but the Jets were given the opportunity to match the deal. Then the Jets turn around and sign Tomlinson to a slightly better deal -- $5.1 million for two years.
It just doesn’t make any sense.
Tomlinson is a year younger. On opening day, he’ll be 31 and Jones will be 32. But Jones appears to have a lot more tread left on his tires. He’s played well the last two years, while Tomlinson has tailed off badly. Last year, Tomlinson averaged over 4.0 yards per carry in only one game all year – a season-opening win against a bad Oakland team. Tomlinson appears to have been beaten into the ground after carrying a huge workload for years.
Look at the numbers below. In particular, look at the yards per carry. In 2008, Jones was up at 4.5, while Tomlinson finished down at 3.8. Last year, Jones was almost a full yard better – 4.2 to 3.3.
The Jets likely will regret this deal.
2008 SEASON
Att Yds Avg TD
290 1312 4.5 13 Jones
292 1110 3.8 11 Tomlinson
2009 SEASON
Att Yds Avg TD
331 1402 4.2 14 Jones
223 730 3.3 12 Tomlinson
—Ian Allan
- Comments [3]
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Posted by Brian Grzybowski | Mar. 15 at 07:00 AM
I thought this was weird too, so I started crunching some numbers. I think Thomas Jones is done. His regular season looks a lot like Willie Parker's 2006 season. Not very good against good defenses but with help from a great offensive line he got to shred a bunch of cream puffs. Tomlinson can't run anymore- the burst is gone. But he can still catch better than the vast majority of runners. If you were bringing a guy in just to be a third down guy and you don't want to match what Chicago gave Chester Taylor, then Tomlinson makes some sense. Thomas Jones, with a rookie quarterback(so you'd assume lots of dump-offs), managed to only catch 10 passes last year for 58 yards. His longest gain was 28 yards which means that the other 9 receptions went for 30 yards. In a 3rd and 4 situation I'd rather take my chances with Tomlinson getting free out in the flat. I suspect the Jets will draft another runner to be the primary back-up to Shonn Greene. If not, Willie Parker is available.
Posted by IAN ALLAN | Mar. 15 at 08:32 AM
I agree that Jones isn't a good pass catcher. I posted something on that last week. But the Jets still have Leon Washington and are saying he'll be ready for the preseason. Washington should be their third-down guy. It's running that's the key. And while I agree that Jones has played his best ball (he'll be 32 in August), I think he offers a lot more as a runner than Tomlinson. I had not problem with the decision to release Jones. But I would much rather have him at two years for $5 million than Tomlinson at two years for $5 million.
Posted by ANDY RICHARDSON | Mar. 15 at 10:38 AM
About the only possibilities I can come up with are 1) they're not being honest about Leon Washington's recovery and are more worried about him than they've let on. It was a pretty ugly injury. 2) They're trying to sell personal seat licenses in their new stadium and think they can dupe a lot of fans into believing Tomlinson is a better player than he actually is. Maybe if I were on the fence about tickets (they actually called me to offer a tour of the new stadium, including where my seats would be if I were independently wealthy) I'd be roped in more by seeing Tomlinson 10 times next year than Thomas Jones, I don't know.